A Copy Editor For Life
by CleoJo
Summary: Despite his best intentions, Charlie finds himself smitten with one of his employees. He knows it's a mistake.
1. Chapter 1

He knew he fucked up. It wasn't so much as he made a mistake, it was that he had made a mistake he had talked himself out of making (on an almost daily basis) since she started working here. He was the head of the division. Sure, he carried himself like an old news man, and he was proud of that, but even he had moved with the times: he'd done all the 'sensitivity and diversity' trainings. And mostly, when he did slip into calling the females 'girls' and no HR chargers were made, he was being placated as that old news man. However, there was just something that she did to him, and against all better judgement, Hell, against all his judgment, he fucked up.

"Charlie, you have to do something about her! Will has... infected her with his morals. I'm just trying to get her to make recommendations, and suddenly she's decided that she's the arbiter of good and bad, which is ridiculous, because all of her watchers are just greedy fuckers anyhow."

Zack paced in Charlie's office. Charlie, in his usually manner, had his feet up on the desk, his drink at hand, and was looking at Zack with a bemused look on his face.

"Zack, you are her EP, have a set of balls and tell her not to do it again."

"You don't understand: I did. The whole fucking reason I'm here, is because she told me to take it up with you."

"What?" Charlie, looking a little concerned, puts his feet firmly on the floor.

"I thought it was Don, and dragged her to his office and told him to quit putting ideas in her head." Charlie chuckled as Zack continued. "Then basically she told me that if I had a problem to take it up with you."

"She did, did she?"

"Yes. So now go tell her to listen to me. I don't care how educated she is, or how much smarter she is than me, we are here to present factual, relevant information on how to make money, and he's suddenly got a fucking conscious."

"You know that this is one of the reasons why she's doing so well with Mackenzie's team, right?"

"Yeah, but when she's not on that team she's on mine, and she needs to play ball, not give a treatise on the relevance of injuries from the game."

"Zack, I can't promise anything. I'll talk to her."

"... I'll talk to her." The words were still in the air and he knew it was a bad idea. It wasn't like he avoided her, but there was a hierarchy where he didn't necessarily interact with her on a regular basis. Unless there was a fuck up like the Japan situation. Charlie handled that predictably. Then, he realized he was going down to the newsroom to instigate.

It started with "Money Skirt", it was occasionally "Girl". Whenever he went to talk to her, he gave her an insulting nickname. The last time it was "Brain on Legs". This was unlikely to go well. As such, Charlie knocked back a drink, decided he was going to go with "authoritative" and went barreling down to her office.

He walked at a purposeful pace through the newsroom to her office. Everyone saw him. He just walked into her office like he owned the place, letting the door swing behind him and bellowed in only a way that Charlie could before the door was even closed.

"Do you have some sort of disability that prevents you from listening to your EP?"

Sloan was startled. She was sitting at her desk, pouring over the numbers from the foreign markets. She wasn't sure that Charlie was ever in her office, let alone knew where it was.

"I am perfectly capable of listening to him about production matters, as he should listen to me about those of an economic nature."

Sloan could keep her cool. She was used to being the only female in a bunch of guys, so while inside she was shaking, on the outside, she was standing her ground, because that was the way she got everything she had. Charlie was her boss's boss, so while she didn't want to disappoint, she wanted to do the right thing.

"In case you didn't realize, this is the news we are producing. It's not a geneology of companies and their product lines. It's not some sort of fucking moral mission. You are here because you are very smart, very beautiful and can deliver fucking information to the public. Zack, while he can be a very annoying little terrier, is your boss. Do me a favor and listen to him."

"No."

"No?"

"I don't want people to look at me when I'm giving them advice, I want them to listen, so I want to give them good, relevant advice. Zack is a moron."

Sloan stands up. She desprately wants to win this one. She grabs her portfolio. "I have to get to makeup."

"Your make up is fine. Sit back down. We aren't done."

Sloan stops, but she doesn't sit down. Charlie never moved from his position by the door, so he has to move in order for her to leave.

"I'm going to be late."

"We aren't done."

"When I tell you to sit, girl, you will sit. I am in charge here, as you reminded Zack.

Sloan picked this moment. This was the moment that she wasn't going to let Charlie intimitate her any more. She pulled her reserve together and made a break for it.

"Charlie, can you just yell at me later? I'm going to be late, and I don't want to disrespect my EP." The last bit she said with a sarcastic sneer.

She was approaching the door. She was running from him. He moved over slightly so that she'd think she had a clear break for the door. He had an instant to get her to pay attention to him.

And here lies the mistake: he grabbed her arm at the elbow. She stopped, as he had a firm grip. He pulled her from facing the door to face him. He leaned down to her ear, it was supposed to be menacing.

His nose caught her scent: the smell of her perfume warmed by her skin, her shampoo, and a slight tinge of fear and standing your ground. He didn't think it was noticable. He though it was an instant. He didn't know that she realized that he was inhaling her.

"I don't want Zack in my office over you. We are not done."

Charlie let Sloan go. She bolted from the room.

Charlie on the other hand slowly walked through the newsroom and back to his office.

"Kenzie?"

Sloan was at Mackenzie's office door.

"Hi Sloan. Come in." Mackenzie looked at Sloan's face. "What's wrong?"

"I'm not really sure how to say this: Charlie sniffed my hair."

"We've been over this: he's a dottering old fool, but he's the best one there is. Charlie is the reason we get to have jobs, and there is no better man."

Mackenzie wasn't convinced that everything was alright, so she pushed a little further.

"Sloan, did he make you feel uncomfortable? Was he not 'Charlie'? Is something wrong?"

"Yes. No. Yes." Sloan started playing with the hair on the left side of her face, bringing it to her nose to smell it.

"Kenzie, I want him to do it again."

"Ok, we are going to have the rest of this discussion later tonight. We are clearly both distracted, and may say things we don't mean."


	2. Chapter 2: Sloan Recounts to Mac

Sloan was waiting when Mackenzie got to the bar. She was sitting in the back corner at a table by herself. She was drinking something in a martini glass with a straw. She seemed vacant staring out of the window onto the street.

"Good show tonight." Mackenzie greeted her. Mac sat down at the table, and folded her arms in front of her, and leaned towards Sloan.

"Um, yeah, you too. Although I'm fairly sure you just hear words that come out of my mouth and don't understand them."

A small smile spread across Mac's face. "I guess you're right. I'm lucky enough to make enough to not worry about making money all the time."

Sloan turned her attention back to the window, but continued talking to Mac. "I'm not sure what's come over me. I don't even like him. All he does is yell at me. And yet, I'm distracted."

Mac had only ever seen Sloan like this once before, after she had seen Titanic for the first time. Mac must remember to not recommend chic flicks to Sloan ever again. Mac was totally confused, as it didn't seem that Sloan had a thing for Charlie, it just seemed like she was feeling lonely and wanted the boyfriend that everyone was flaunting around her. Mac knew exactly how she felt.

"Look, Sloan, I know that you can have your days were you don't seem to get the general public, and I'm not saying that's something wrong with you, but maybe you misunderstood the behavior. I'm sure that there's something we can do to remedy the situation. Why don't you tell me exactly what happened?"

Sloan sighed. She was stirring her drink with the straw. "Charlie came bounding into my office because Zack was complaining that I was ignoring his instructions. And he started yelling that I had to follow his instructions. And I told him that I was going to give good, relevant economic advice. The conversation wasn't going anywhere...you know how Charlie can get... so I grabbed some stuff from my desk and tried to make an excuse that I had to go to makeup. He was standing in front of the door, and I tried to get around him."

Sloan paused to take a drink, but seemingly got lost in her thoughts recounting the situation.

Mac, being very impatient and needing to hear the meat of the story, "Sloan, continue, it's just me."

"I tried to make it out the door, but he grabbed me."

Mac interrupted, "Sloan, he didn't hurt you did he?"

"Oh, no. He grabbed my arm to stop me leaving. And here's the weird part, as soon as he touched me, it was like he froze. Then, in slow motion, he leaned down to say something in my ear, but it seemed like forever before he spoke. And then I heard it, his breath, my heart beating in my ears, he was breathing in my hair, he was smelling me. Smelling me like you'd do if you were entranced by someone's cologne. And then I though my heart would explode in my chest. Kenzie, I though my legs were going to give out. He simply said, 'I don't want Zack in my office over you. We are not done.' and he let my arm go."

Mac nodded slowly. "Sloan, I think that you were having your natural reaction to fear: the flight or fight mechanism interrupted. Normally, you stand your ground with Charlie, and this time, for whatever reason, you decided on flight. Then when Charlie stopped you, it effected you. This could be just a perfectly normal reaction."

"Kenzie, one of the reasons why I instigate and fight with Charlie so much, is that he reminds me of my first love. And against all rational thought, I've developed a crush on Charlie Skinner. It's not a good idea, it's not something I do on a regular basis, it's ridiculous, and yet, there's just a similarity that I can't ignore, and it's breaking my heart."

Mac wasn't sure what to do with this information. She knew that Sloan seemed to go on an endless string of first dates but no on seemed to stick.

"Sloan, everyone has bad breakups. And the ones that associated with our first real, true loves never seem to heal quite right. We have to move on. You... "

Sloan interrupted: "And that's worked really well for you and Will."

"Point taken, but there can be a nice man out there for you, Sloan. There's no need to fixate on Charlie. Despite his gruff exterior, he's a good man, but you have to get him out of your head."

"I know. I didn't think that something like this would ever happen again, and while I want to be happy and have my little, ridiculous crush, I'm also afraid that my bad luck will happen again."

"Bad luck?"

"My first love was PhD advisor. It's why I have 2, so that I could prove to myself that I was good enough to get the first one. We were so in love Kenzie, that it hurt. And then he was gone."

"Gone?"

"He fought with me. He didn't let me get away with anything. He had silly nicknames for me. He pushed me hard to make me a better person. He was sweet. We were an endless thunderstorm of a relationship. We were perfect together. And then he was gone and I retreated, I pushed all of my heart and soul into economic analysis. Sure, I'm one of the best in the US, but my heart will forever not be filled."

"Sloan, where did he go?"

Sloan was pouring her heart out to Mackenzie. It was the first time that Mac had seen such a stream of emotions from her. It was heartbreaking. Sloan's first normal, girl moment with Mac had to be over something as heart-wrenching as remembering her first love.

"Kenzie, when Charlie smelled my hair, it was like Alex was back. It was like I was standing in his office and he was yelling about my latest revision, then stopping to tell me that I smelled like roses. It was right."

"Sloan, for the last time: where did he go?"

"He died."


	3. Chapter 3

Charlie got back to his office after the encounter with Sloan. He shut the door, turned off the lights, pulled the blinds down, poured himself a drink, and sat down at his desk. He needed time. He needed to figure out how to be around her. It was going to have to happen. He was going to have to yell at her again at some point, and if he didn't, there would be talk. He was Charlie Skinner, he was in charge of the news division, he was an old news man, he was going to figure this out. The first thing was to not fuck up again.

Mac had to tell someone. She was a romantic at heart. And while Sloan made it known to her that yes, she did have a crush on Charlie, and yes, she knew it was a bad idea, and yes, she even knew that she wasn't going to do anything about it, Mac couldn't keep it to herself. She wasn't even sure that Charlie felt that way about anyone.

Despite getting involved in Will and Mac's lives, Charlie was less open about his life. Mac knew that when he was reporting, he mostly did on location work in dangerous settings. Charlie wears a wedding ring, yet he never mentions a wife. In all the years that Mac's known him, she's never been to his home. In fact, she can't even picture Charlie anywhere else than at work in some capacity. She can't even think of any personal pictures in his office of family. Suddenly, this strikes her as odd. There's only one person who'd be able to answer these questions.

"Will, got a minute?" Mac went there. She stayed in the doorway, recently she'd had issues spending any length of time in Will's office.

"What is it Mackenzie?" He doesn't stop his reading of whatever is on the computer screen.

"Is Charlie married?"

This gets his attention. Will stops looking at his computer screen, looks up at Mac with a soft look, "Yes. Well, he was. Shut the door. What's this about?"

Mac walks in and takes a seat. She doesn't make eye contact with Will, because she might have to lie to him to keep Sloan's confidence, and she doesn't want to be looking at Will when she does it. Instead she looks out the window as she tries to explain.

"I realized Charlie wears a ring, but he's never mentioned a wife... and then I started realizing that he doesn't ever seem to mention a family...and I felt like...even though we are sort of a news family...maybe we should, I don't know... take more of an interest in him?"

"You want to adopt Charlie?" Will chuckles.

"No, but if he's not married, why the ring, why no dates?"

"Mac, do you have a thing for Charlie? Isn't he... old for you?" Will is almost laughing now.

"No... I think that someone likes him and may need a push in the right direction. What's his story Will? He knows all of ours..."

"Haven't you done enough with pushing people in romantic directions? After all, it works so well for you."

"Will. Please, just the backstory. I have to know. I'll leave it alone if it's that awful."

"Mac, the man keeps our shit together. He may consume all the bourbon made in the US on a yearly basis, but he's the one that deals with everything. For the love of God, do not rattle him."

"You think I can rattle him over this?"

"Maybe."

Will looks back at his computer screen. He knows the story, in fact, he's sure that Mac even knows part of the story, she just doesn't know she knows. He's still not sure he wants to let Mac into that part of the story.

"Mac, remember Jessica?"

"Of course, everyone remembers her. I was at her memorial service."

"Who wasn't?"

"Will, are you telling me that Jessica and Charlie were married?"

"Yes, it was a small ceremony. Their love was a private thing, he was fiercely protective of it. He never wanted Jessica to be looked down upon because of their differences. Which was ridiculous, because even though she was 20 years younger than him, she took care of him. The wedding was only a few friends, right before she went on that assignment to Mexico. Charlie was going to meet her down there after she collected all of the interviews for a honeymoon."

"I.. I never knew. They were a great team. Will, they never did find her body, right?"

"No, and that's why he won't take off the ring. In his head, she'll come back someday. He's never fully recovered. He won't admit she's dead. He won't move on. He refuses to talk about his past. He lives for the moment, sort of. He's fractured."

"So, if Charlie, hypothetically, did make a move on someone, that would actually be a good thing, right?"

"Mac, I don't like where you are going with this. Charlie is our friend. Don't fuck with him."

"I won't."

"I don't believe you, but I have things to do. You're dismissed."

Will had been in Charlie's office for a half hour talking about the previous night's show before he broke down and said something.

"Charlie, Mac came to me earlier and asked me some questions about you. So, don't take this as anything, but I think that she's got it in her head that either you have a thing for someone, or someone has a thing for you. And you know that Mac is a romantic, so just take this as a warning."

Charlie went pale. Will noticed.

"Ok, old man. Spill."

"It's nothing. She's just reading into something."

"Is it her?"

"Of course not, I know that while you two are doing whatever it is that you're doing, Mac is off limits. I wish you'd just tell her how you feel."

"Charlie, we're talking about you. What does she have to read into? And you can deny all you want, but 'paling' at the mention of something that's 'nothing' isn't the appropriate reaction."

"Will. Stay out of it."

"Like how you stayed out of me and Mac when you made her my EP?"

Charlie knew he'd have to give some information up. The problem with fighting with Will was that he went into lawyer mode, and you had to release some information. Worse, Will was right. It was something, not nothing, no matter how much he wanted to be nothing.

"Ok, Will. You get some information. Not names, but something."

"Go on, you old player, you."

"There's someone I find entertaining. I may have accidentally had a moment with her, but I'm sure it's not mutual, and it's not a good idea, so I'm ignoring it."

"I'm not sure it's not mutual."

Charlie's eyebrows raise in surprise. "What? What did Mac say?"

"From what I can tell, someone went to her with whatever happened, and they might have a thing for you."

"Impossible."

"None of this makes sense, and I'm done with this topic. Go talk to Mac."


	4. Chapter 4

Charlie had come down to Mac's office via a roundabout route that took him past Sloan's empty office. He had slept on what Will had told him, and decided while he was tossing and turning in his bed, that he had to know what Sloan said so that he could counteract what Mackenzie either knows, or thinks she knows. He knew that Mac would be in early, so he took a chance that he could ambush her into telling him what she knew.

He knew he needed to seem like this wasn't a big deal, so he smushed his face against the glass before he knocked.

"God damn it Charlie! Will you stop doing that? I'm going to have to get blinds for the office."

Charlie walked in, plopped down in the chair across from Mac's desk.

"I hear a little birdy tells you I went cuckoo with a member of the staff."

"I take it Will has been to see you?"

"Yes, our conversation was both mysterious and enlightening. However, not enlightening enough. Why don't you tell me a story."

Mac was used to the jovial Charlie, it was nice to see he wasn't angry. She was, after all, invading his personal life.

"Well, I had to take a very beautiful and confused woman for drinks after work, in order for her to tell me her story."

"Sounds like a fine time."

"Oh, it would have been an excellent time for some girl talk, unfortunately, the woman was more worried about a man."

"She shouldn't have been. No harm, no fowl."

"She wasn't worried about him in that sense, she was worried about what he was doing to her."

"I'm not going to fire her, Mac. I just need her to listen to her EP."

"Damn it Charlie, listen to what I'm saying: she has a crush on you. She told me. In those words."

Charlie started coughing. This wasn't exactly what he thought he was going to hear. He assumed that Mac had taken something out of context. He crossed her office to get a bottle of water out of her office fridge. He opened the bottle and downed half of it as a way to think of what to say.

Mac jumped to her feet in order to face him. "You like her too, don't you? You don't come annoy the rest of us nearly as much as you do her. You push her buttons on purpose."

This wasn't going the way Charlie had anticipated.

"Mac, she's young enough to be my daughter."

"Charlie, she's the only one that challenges you."

"Mac, I'm not going there."

"Charlie, you could be happy."

"And you and Will could be happy too, see how well this is all working out?"

Charlie turned to walk away. He wasn't going to engage in the conversation any more. Until she said those words.

"Charlie, you remind her of her life's true love. Give it a chance. Please?"

"No."

He retreated to his office. Both Will and Mac knew. Sloan was going to be a problem for him. He didn't think she was going to tell anyone but Mac, but he wasn't entirely sure. He also didn't think he was going to hear the end of it from Mac.

He hadn't seen her in weeks. No, that's a lie. He saw her face on the television screen, he just hadn't seen it in person. He'd been avoiding the production studios and news room when he knew she was there, he'd taken to calling people for issues when she was in. When she was on air, he'd go wander about the floor so it wouldn't seem like no one hadn't seen him.

Only Mac caught on. She gave him sad puppy dog eyes when she saw him, but Charlie refused to have this conversation with her.

Charlie's secretary buzzed his office. "Mr. Skinner, Ms. McHale on line one."

Charlie picked up the phone. Before he could say hello, Mac was breathless and frantic. "Charlie, you need to get down here. I think Zack and Sloan are going to have a fist fight in the middle of the news room."

There was a crowd surrounding them when he got there. It was a circle around what seemed to be 2 lions circling each other. There was shouting.

"I told you the last time: If you ever drug me threw the newsroom again by my wrist, I was going to break all your fingers."

"I told YOU to listen to your boss."

"I didn't do anything wrong: I gave factual, relevant information to the viewers."

"I told you to not give any advice on the electronics stocks."

"I told you to not touch me, so I guess we're even."

Charlie had enough, he pushed his way through the circle of people. "What the fuck is going on here? Do I have to separate my employees like schoolchildren?"

Zack and Sloan both started talking at Charlie simultaneously.

"Charlie, she did it again. She started talking about Apple stock and the factory conditions. I told her not to."

"Zack, I was watching her, she didn't do anything wrong."

"But, she ignored me. And since the last last time I reprimanded her she told me to take it up with you and we all know that had no effect, I was dragging her to Will, in hopes that he'd talk some sense into her."

Sloan was standing with her arms crossed her chest, a frown and defiant look on her face. This was going to be such a problem for Charlie.

"Sloan, go to my office and wait. I'll be up to deal with you. Zack, your office now. Everyone else go to work, we cover the news, not soap operas."

Charlie and Zack went to his office.

"Zack, have a seat. Yes, she's ignoring you, but it's only because you're a moron. You're a good EP, but you don't have her intelligence and skill. So I'm only going to say this once: I watch all of her shows, and when she fucks up I will be in her face. You will not lay a hand on her. You will not raise your voice to her. If I hear otherwise, you will not be able to produce the arbor day parade on cable access."

Charlie left a slack jawed Zack in his office. He had a bigger problem. He had sent Sloan to his office.

Charlie reached his office. His secretary handed him a box of tissue and told him that Ms. Sabbith was in his office. He quizzically looked at the tissues, all she said was that he'd need them.

Charlie opened the door slowly, he wasn't sure if Sloan was the type to leap upon him when he'd obviously chastised her in front of her colleagues by sending her to his office. She was sitting in a chair across from his desk, her face in her hands, dark hair hanging down. He knew she heard him open the door, but she didn't move except for the silent heaving of her shoulders.

Charlie crossed the room, pullled a chair so he could sit directly across from her, and sat, putting the tissues in her lap.

"I suppose you're going to yell at me now?"

"No, I'm trying to find out what's wrong."

"You said we weren't done, I'm waiting for the rest of the yelling." Sloan looked up, he eyes were red ringed and defiant. She took a tissue and blew her nose, there was some honking, so Charlie chuckled.

"You're laughing at me now?"

"You have a cute way of blowing your nose."

Sloan tilted her head.

Charlie didn't mean to say that, so he stood, with intention to walk away, but instead sat back down and leaned forward.

"Sloan, I've been watching your broadcasts for the past few weeks. Every one. I haven't found an instance of you doing something wrong. I don't know what is wrong with Zack."

"He hates me... You've seen every broadcast?"

"I told him that he's not to touch you again. I didn't know about that." Charlie wanted to lean forward and touch her knee, just to get her to look up again, but he wasn't sure how that would go over. Instead, he'd be strong, he'd fix this.

"Sloan: Never let them see you cry. You're strong. You stand your ground. It's one of the things I like about you. Now stand up. I don't have a mirror in here, and your makeup is smudged."

He couldn't really stand seeing her upset. Charlie grabbed the box of tissues from Sloan as she stood. He pulled 2 from the box, folded around his forefinger and dabbed around her eyes. The tissue was a barrier between him and her, one he could hold on to. Charlie had a soft look on his face while he was trying to fix her crying eyes, dabbing the mascara from her face, but never really looking into her eyes. Sloan looked visibly confused, her eyes darting all over Charlie's face. When he was satisfied, he put both the box and the used tissue on the edge of his desk. Fuck it, he though, the hands weren't a no-go zone: he grabbed both of her hands and held them in front of him.

"Sloan, it'll be ok. Now take some deep breaths to clear the air."

This was not a view of Charlie that she was used to seeing. He was warm, he was caring. He was doing the right thing in a confusing situation.

"Ok, you should get going back. People will start to think I pushed you out a window." He chuckled a little to try to make her smile. Sad Sloan was a sight to be seen, one that he wished he'd never have to see again.

He didn't move, he didn't let go of her hands. Sloan made the first move to leave, but tripped over the chair that Charlie had moved. As she fell, her hands went up and pushed Charlie to a seated position in the chair. Sloan fell on his lap. He looked in her startled eyes, and said out loud, "I can't believe that this happened again".

He looked into her startled, almost scared eyes, leaned down to her, and kissed her. He hadn't kissed anyone in so long. It was short but meaningful kiss, enough to smell her perfume, enough to feel her soft lips on his. Enough to notice that her head was pushing against him and her neck was reaching up. All of a sudden, as if reminded of something burning in an adjacent room, Sloan scrambled to get out of his lap, she stood, pulled her skirt down, and moved quickly to the door. She paused before she touched the knob to look back at Charlie.

"You kissed me!"

Charlie searched her face, and replied in an even tone. "I did."

Sloan narrowed her eyes, "Did you talk to Mackenzie?"

"I did."

Sloan turned back to the door. Opened it, and left.

Charlie moved back to his desk. He sat thinking for a moment, looked at the clock, waited 5 minutes. He picked up and dialed his phone. As soon as it connected, and the recipient answered, he spoke into the receiver.

"You kissed me back." Then he hung up.

This was going to be interesting.


	5. Chapter 5

Charlie had come down to Mac's office via a roundabout route that took him past Sloan's empty office. He had slept on what Will had told him, and decided while he was tossing and turning in his bed, that he had to know what Sloan said so that he could counteract what Mackenzie either knows, or thinks she knows. He knew that Mac would be in early, so he took a chance that he could ambush her into telling him what she knew.

He knew he needed to seem like this wasn't a big deal, so he smushed his face against the glass before he knocked.

"God damn it Charlie! Will you stop doing that? I'm going to have to get blinds for the office."

Charlie walked in, plopped down in the chair across from Mac's desk.

"I hear a little birdy tells you I went cuckoo with a member of the staff."

"I take it Will has been to see you?"

"Yes, our conversation was both mysterious and enlightening. However, not enlightening enough. Why don't you tell me a story."

Mac was used to the jovial Charlie, it was nice to see he wasn't angry. She was, after all, invading his personal life.

"Well, I had to take a very beautiful and confused woman for drinks after work, in order for her to tell me her story."

"Sounds like a fine time."

"Oh, it would have been an excellent time for some girl talk, unfortunately, the woman was more worried about a man."

"She shouldn't have been. No harm, no fowl."

"She wasn't worried about him in that sense, she was worried about what he was doing to her."

"I'm not going to fire her, Mac. I just need her to listen to her EP."

"Damn it Charlie, listen to what I'm saying: she has a crush on you. She told me. In those words."

Charlie started coughing. This wasn't exactly what he thought he was going to hear. He assumed that Mac had taken something out of context. He crossed her office to get a bottle of water out of her office fridge. He opened the bottle and downed half of it as a way to think of what to say.

Mac jumped to her feet in order to face him. "You like her too, don't you? You don't come annoy the rest of us nearly as much as you do her. You push her buttons on purpose."

This wasn't going the way Charlie had anticipated.

"Mac, she's young enough to be my daughter."

"Charlie, she's the only one that challenges you."

"Mac, I'm not going there."

"Charlie, you could be happy."

"And you and Will could be happy too, see how well this is all working out?"

Charlie turned to walk away. He wasn't going to engage in the conversation any more. Until she said those words.

"Charlie, you remind her of her life's true love. Give it a chance. Please?"

"No."

He retreated to his office. Both Will and Mac knew. Sloan was going to be a problem for him. He didn't think she was going to tell anyone but Mac, but he wasn't entirely sure. He also didn't think he was going to hear the end of it from Mac.

He hadn't seen her in weeks. No, that's a lie. He saw her face on the television screen, he just hadn't seen it in person. He'd been avoiding the production studios and news room when he knew she was there, he'd taken to calling people for issues when she was in. When she was on air, he'd go wander about the floor so it wouldn't seem like no one hadn't seen him.

Only Mac caught on. She gave him sad puppy dog eyes when she saw him, but Charlie refused to have this conversation with her.

Charlie's secretary buzzed his office. "Mr. Skinner, Ms. McHale on line one."

Charlie picked up the phone. Before he could say hello, Mac was breathless and frantic. "Charlie, you need to get down here. I think Zack and Sloan are going to have a fist fight in the middle of the news room."

There was a crowd surrounding them when he got there. It was a circle around what seemed to be 2 lions circling each other. There was shouting.

"I told you the last time: If you ever drug me threw the newsroom again by my wrist, I was going to break all your fingers."

"I told YOU to listen to your boss."

"I didn't do anything wrong: I gave factual, relevant information to the viewers."

"I told you to not give any advice on the electronics stocks."

"I told you to not touch me, so I guess we're even."

Charlie had enough, he pushed his way through the circle of people. "What the fuck is going on here? Do I have to separate my employees like schoolchildren?"

Zack and Sloan both started talking at Charlie simultaneously.

"Charlie, she did it again. She started talking about Apple stock and the factory conditions. I told her not to."

"Zack, I was watching her, she didn't do anything wrong."

"But, she ignored me. And since the last last time I reprimanded her she told me to take it up with you and we all know that had no effect, I was dragging her to Will, in hopes that he'd talk some sense into her."

Sloan was standing with her arms crossed her chest, a frown and defiant look on her face. This was going to be such a problem for Charlie.

"Sloan, go to my office and wait. I'll be up to deal with you. Zack, your office now. Everyone else go to work, we cover the news, not soap operas."

Charlie and Zack went to his office.

"Zack, have a seat. Yes, she's ignoring you, but it's only because you're a moron. You're a good EP, but you don't have her intelligence and skill. So I'm only going to say this once: I watch all of her shows, and when she fucks up I will be in her face. You will not lay a hand on her. You will not raise your voice to her. If I hear otherwise, you will not be able to produce the arbor day parade on cable access."

Charlie left a slack jawed Zack in his office. He had a bigger problem. He had sent Sloan to his office.

Charlie reached his office. His secretary handed him a box of tissue and told him that Ms. Sabbith was in his office. He quizzically looked at the tissues, all she said was that he'd need them.

Charlie opened the door slowly, he wasn't sure if Sloan was the type to leap upon him when he'd obviously chastised her in front of her colleagues by sending her to his office. She was sitting in a chair across from his desk, her face in her hands, dark hair hanging down. He knew she heard him open the door, but she didn't move except for the silent heaving of her shoulders.

Charlie crossed the room, pullled a chair so he could sit directly across from her, and sat, putting the tissues in her lap.

"I suppose you're going to yell at me now?"

"No, I'm trying to find out what's wrong."

"You said we weren't done, I'm waiting for the rest of the yelling." Sloan looked up, he eyes were red ringed and defiant. She took a tissue and blew her nose, there was some honking, so Charlie chuckled.

"You're laughing at me now?"

"You have a cute way of blowing your nose."

Sloan tilted her head.

Charlie didn't mean to say that, so he stood, with intention to walk away, but instead sat back down and leaned forward.

"Sloan, I've been watching your broadcasts for the past few weeks. Every one. I haven't found an instance of you doing something wrong. I don't know what is wrong with Zack."

"He hates me... You've seen every broadcast?"

"I told him that he's not to touch you again. I didn't know about that." Charlie wanted to lean forward and touch her knee, just to get her to look up again, but he wasn't sure how that would go over. Instead, he'd be strong, he'd fix this.

"Sloan: Never let them see you cry. You're strong. You stand your ground. It's one of the things I like about you. Now stand up. I don't have a mirror in here, and your makeup is smudged."

He couldn't really stand seeing her upset. Charlie grabbed the box of tissues from Sloan as she stood. He pulled 2 from the box, folded around his forefinger and dabbed around her eyes. The tissue was a barrier between him and her, one he could hold on to. Charlie had a soft look on his face while he was trying to fix her crying eyes, dabbing the mascara from her face, but never really looking into her eyes. Sloan looked visibly confused, her eyes darting all over Charlie's face. When he was satisfied, he put both the box and the used tissue on the edge of his desk. Fuck it, he though, the hands weren't a no-go zone: he grabbed both of her hands and held them in front of him.

"Sloan, it'll be ok. Now take some deep breaths to clear the air."

This was not a view of Charlie that she was used to seeing. He was warm, he was caring. He was doing the right thing in a confusing situation.

"Ok, you should get going back. People will start to think I pushed you out a window." He chuckled a little to try to make her smile. Sad Sloan was a sight to be seen, one that he wished he'd never have to see again.

He didn't move, he didn't let go of her hands. Sloan made the first move to leave, but tripped over the chair that Charlie had moved. As she fell, her hands went up and pushed Charlie to a seated position in the chair. Sloan fell on his lap. He looked in her startled eyes, and said out loud, "I can't believe that this happened again".

He looked into her startled, almost scared eyes, leaned down to her, and kissed her. He hadn't kissed anyone in so long. It was short but meaningful kiss, enough to smell her perfume, enough to feel her soft lips on his. Enough to notice that her head was pushing against him and her neck was reaching up. All of a sudden, as if reminded of something burning in an adjacent room, Sloan scrambled to get out of his lap, she stood, pulled her skirt down, and moved quickly to the door. She paused before she touched the knob to look back at Charlie.

"You kissed me!"

Charlie searched her face, and replied in an even tone. "I did."

Sloan narrowed her eyes, "Did you talk to Mackenzie?"

"I did."

Sloan turned back to the door. Opened it, and left.

Charlie moved back to his desk. He sat thinking for a moment, looked at the clock, waited 5 minutes. He picked up and dialed his phone. As soon as it connected, and the recipient answered, he spoke into the receiver.

"You kissed me back." Then he hung up.

This was going to be interesting.


End file.
